In constructing truck and trailer bodies it is conventional to join metal structural members to metal sheet members by means of heat-curable adhesives. For example, the roof sheet of a trailer body may be joined to the roof bow members by fixing the roof bows in proper relation to each other, applying a catalyzed heat-curable adhesive to the bonding surfaces of the roof bows, placing the roof sheet in proper position on the roof bows and clamping the whole assembly together, and then subjecting the assembly to a heat-curing cycle as for example to a temperature of 180.degree.F for twenty minutes.
The bonding strength of such heat-curable adhesives is sufficient to provide the necessary structural integrity of the assembly but the technique is obviously time consuming due to the heat cure cycle and requires a rather complex clamping system to hold the parts in place until cure is effected.
The use of hot melt adhesives has been considered because their use would eliminate the heat cure cycle but they present other problems, notably the requirement of heating the roof bows in order to prevent premature cooling and setting of the adhesive, and insufficient bonding strength to assure an assembly of the requisite structural integrity. These problems can be solved by the use of a heat-insulating layer of glass fiber scrim cloth placed upon the roof bows as disclosed in commonly assigned application, docket 25-BB, filed concurrently herewith. However, the use of the scrim cloth represents a cost factor which it would be desirable to eliminate.